Ovens

ABSTRACT

A forced air oven is provided in which the air dispelled radially of the fan is directed by a bent elongate strip member forming a baffle mounted at the wall of the oven bearing the fan. By modification of the shape of the baffle, optimum heat distribution throughout the oven.

United States I Patent [191 Booker 111 3,847,134 [451 Nov. 12, 1974 i 1OVENS [75] Inventor: William J. W. Booker, London,

England I [73} Assignee: Oliver Tom's Catering Equipment Limited,London, England 1 Filed: Mar. 1, 1973 [21] Appl No.: 337,180

US. Cl 126/21 A [51] Int. Cl. F24c 15/32 [58] Field of Search 126/21, 21A, 19,273

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,707,145 l2/l972Anetsberger'et al. l26/2l A l2/l97l Borge l26/2l A 2,906,620

9/l959 Jung l26/2l A Primary Examiner-Edward G. Favors AttorneygAgent,0r Firm-Kurt Kelman [S 7] ABSTRACT 'A forced air oven is provided inwhich the air dispelled radially of the fan is directed by a bentelongate strip member forming a baffle mounted at the wall of the ovenbearing the fan. By modification of the shape of the baffle, optimumheat distribution throughout the oven.

1 Claim, 6 Drawing Figures I PATENIEB um I 21914 sum 10F a PATENTEDnuv12 m4 3L847L134 Y SHEET 20F 4 OVENS This invention relates to ovens ofthe kind in which air is circulated in an attempt to provide anefficient and even heating of the contents. In particular, the inventionrelates to ovens which may be used for cooking or at least reheatingpre-cooked food. However, such ovens may be used for other purposes. Theoven may be heated in any known manner although gas and electric heatinghave been found preferable as accurate control of the amount of heatsupplied to the oven is possible. Our British Pat. Nos. l,l83,202,1,183,203 and 1,183,204 describe and claim ovens of this general kind.

Ovens of the kind referred to above are known as forced air ovens andthe air which is circulated therein does not change and therefore thereis no heat lost in heating fresh air from outside the oven.

It has been proposed to provide a forced air oven, suitable for use forcatering purposes, which is gas heated. Such an oven has means forcirculating air therein, a plurality of gas jets being adapted to heatthe base of the oven, or at least an air space below the base, the airfrom such space first flowing through channels formed between increasedouter walls of the oven and then escaping through a vent or chimney. Insuch an oven a fan driven by an electric motor circulates air so thatheat is distributed throughout the oven. Unfortunately in some cateringoperations it is essential to have as little temperature variation aspossible. I

It is an object of the present invention to enable one to provide aforced air oven having good heat distribution over each of the traysused therein.

According to the present invention there is provided a forced air ovenhaving a baffle mounted at the wall thereof bearing the fan, the bafflebeing formed of a bent or curved elongate strip member. The baffleshould be mounted substantially symmetrically of a vertically downwardlyextending segment from the centre of the fan, the lower part of thebaffle being at a greater radial distance from the centre of the fanthan the ends thereof and the baffle being mounted so as to present amain surface area thereof to air expelled radi ally from the fan, in useof the oven.

It has been found that the lower part of the baffle should besubstantially level with the top of the bottom tray of the oven, if thebest results are to be obtained. Best results have been obtained whenwire, as opposed to sheet metal, shelves are used in the oven, sincethis facilitates air circulation (it being borne in mind, however, thatgenerally the foodstuff being prepared in the oven will be on trays ofsheet metal).

In a 25 l5/l6 inches internal width oven of the type marketed byourselves, it has been found that good results are obtained by the useof a 1% inches wide baffle mounted /2 inch away from the back plate ofthe oven with the ends thereof 13 inches from the centre of the fan andthe lower part thereof 13 /2 inches from the centre of the fan.

For safety reasons, a screen of some sort must be provided in front ofthe fan. It is preferred to provide a wire mesh screen, by mounting aplanar mesh on a frame which also carries the baffle in accordance with1 tice, an embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example,with reference to the accompanying drawings which show an example ofoven fitted with a baffle in accordance with the invention, although thetype of burner is not of importance as far as the present invention isconcerned.

In the drawing,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly in section, of an ovenaccording to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the oven ofFIG. 1; 1

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a metal mesh and associated parts of the oven;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a frame used in the oven; and

FIG. 6 is a top view of the oven, with the cover removed.

An oven of the general kind described in our British Pat. No. l,l83,204,apart from the back plate 1 and baffle 2, is provided with a back plate1 having a substantially rectangular cut-out 3 through which the fan 4is mounted, with two circular cut-outs 5 for the provision of lightingin the oven. The sides 6 of the back plate 1 are bent forward to assistthe circulation of air from the fan 4 around the oven in the usual way.

In front of the back plate 1 there is provided a wire frame 7. This wireframe 7 carries a planar metal mesh 8 in front of the fan 4 so as toform a safety screen for the fan 4. At the bottom of the wire frame 7there is mounted-a 1% inches wide metal strip 2 bent on a segment of acircle, with the ends 9 and 10 of the strip l3 inches from the centre ofthe fan 4 and the bottom 11 thereof 13 /2 inches from the centre of thefan 4 (the oven being 25 15/16 inches wide and 24 inches high, internalmeasurements). The strip 2 is so mounted as to be /2 inch from the backplate 1. The strip 2 extends across approximately 17 /2 inches of theback plate 1 of the oven. For different size ovens, the strip 2 willnaturally be of slightly different configuration to provide optimumdistribution of heat about the oven.

It has been found that with particular ovens different orientations,lengths and widths of baffle may be necessary to provide optimumresults. However,.using the baked biscuit test it is possible by trialand error to ascertain the details of baffle according to the inventionrequired.

The forms of the invention herein shown and described are to beconsidered only as illustrative. It will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that numerous modifications may be made therein withoutdeparture from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A forced air oven having means for circulating air therein, aplurality of gas jets being adapted to heat at least an air space belowthe base of 'the oven, the air from such space first flowing throughchannels formed between outer walls of the oven and then escapingthrough a vent, the means for circulating air being a fan. driven by anelectric motor, a baffle being mounted at the wall of the oven'bearingthe fan and being formed of a curved elongate strip member, the bafflebeing mounted substantially symmetrically of a vertically downwardlyextending segment from the centre of the fan, the lower part of thebaffle being at a greater radial distance from the centre of the fanthan the ends thereof, and in which the baffle is mounted so as topresent a main surface area thereof to air expelled radi-

1. A forced air oven having means for circulating air therein, aplurality of gas jets being adapted to heat at least an air space belowthe base of the oven, the air from such space first flowing throughchannels formed between outer walls of the oven and then escapingthrough a vent, the means for circulating air being a fan driven by anelectric motor, a baffle being mounted at the wall of the oven bearingthe fan and being formed of a curved elongate strip member, the bafflebeing mounted substantially symmetrically of a vertically downwardlyextending segment from the centre of the fan, the lower part of thebaffle being at a greater radial distance from the centre of the fanthan the ends thereof, and in which the baffle is mounted so as topresent a main surface area thereof to air expelled radially from thefan, in use of the oven.